She later returned home alone and invited Mr Baker to their house. Their children were staying with his parents. Melanie Hall was last seen outside the former Cadillacs nightclub in Walcot Street, Bath in the early hours of June 9 1996. She was 25 years old. (Image: Avon and Somerset Police/ PA Wire) It is easy to believe that Somerset does not see the kinds of brutal crimes that are seen in other parts of the country.

The 45-year-old then fled his Brendon Gardens home and attempted to take his own life by lying in front of a train. Owen Pellow was jailed for life after murdering his ex-partner in Burnham-on-Sea (Image: Avon and Somerset Police) Rina Martin is a retired actress who played a TV sleuth for years. She put all that behind her when she moved to the sleepy town of Frantham-on-Sea. Here on the Dorset coast, she runs her own pin-neat guest house and life is blissfully quiet. Then a brutal killer comes to town. A few doors down, harmless old Mrs Freer is bludgeoned to death, and Rina can’t help but be drawn into the mystery. Following this incident, Broadway had challenged Mr Isaacs's son, Barry, to a fist fight, but instead John Broadway summoned his brother to fetch a shotgun.

While Oxford had Morse, Whitstable, famous for its oysters, has Pearl . . . True to the tradition of classic crime, [Julie Wassmer] weaves a strong story into a setting that has more to offer than murder and mayhem’ Daily Mail The couple's two young sons were left to discover their mother fatally injured before the eldest called the police. Rina and Mac make an interesting pair, with Rina’s forthrightness and Mac recovering from the trauma of a previous case. The murder followed an earlier violent altercation between Charlie Broadway, Finney, Jones and Mr Isaacs and his son.

Murder She Wrote is an apt comparison — Rina Martin is sharp and no-nonsense. She knows a bit about law, a bit about murder — and a lot about human nature.” Carmen Thoroughly enjoyable with a host of wonderful characters – I adore Dolly! – and evocative descriptions of Whitstable. Perfect for foodies too. Pearl is great and the ongoing will they/won’t they love story with McGuire is compelling. Comforting, cosy and entertaining with excellent Agatha Christie-style reveals. I love these books!’ Jane Wenham-Jones, author of Mum in the Middle And, besides, damaged DI Sebastian McGregor needs all the help he can get to solve this baffling case . . .

If you love Agatha Christie, Jeanne M. Dams, The Thursday Murder Club, Glenda Young, Stella Cameron, Frances Evesham or Ann Cleeves, prepare to be hooked by this enchanting character-driven mystery! The jury heard how Nowak and Lagwinowicz had met to plot the murder on up to 87 occasions and exchanged hundreds of phone calls on prepaid Sim cards. When the author tells the reader whodunnit early on in a story, the tension in a mystery story is more from watching all the other characters get close to the answers, and possibly also into danger. Which is the situation here, when Jane Adams starts the story with a series of burglaries, followed by murders and revelations of spousal and child abuse. Her first main character is a police officer, DI “Mac” McGregor, new to the Frantham-on-Sea force, and to the neighbourhood, with its families, nosy neighbours, and well-known criminals. Melanie, 25, was a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital in Bath with her whole life ahead of her. Good, solid whodunits, without gruesome details or gratuitous violence, Murder on Sea may be just your cup of tea’— Bec Stafford

Mr Isaacs was shot dead close to his home in front of his partner, two sons and two-year-old granddaughter by Charlie Broadway. The last thing Pearl expects for Christmas is murder but soon the bodies are piling up. Can Pearl possibly solve the mystery in time to make 25th December an unforgettable day – or will the murderer contrive to ensure her goose is well and truly cooked before then? Rina, the tweed skirt wearing, retired actress was actually a secondary character as troubled policeman Mac was the real star. Rina is the landlady of a house filled with what seemed to be music hall, end of the pier type performers. That just seemed so dated and unlikely. The story seemed modern yet there were a few details, such as the boarding house residents, using a landline and the names of some of the characters, that made me query when exactly it was set. I then saw it had first been published in 2008 under a different name but Rina’s sections seemed old-fashioned and almost like a separate gentle short story woven into another far harsher modern one.It was 13 years later a workman found her remains in woodland near Thornbury near the M5 on October 5, 2009. The trial heard how Lagwinowicz and Dmytryszyn took Ms Wells-Burr's body and drove it in her red Ford Focus to a secluded lane at Ashill. A few doors down, harmless old Mrs Freer is bludgeoned to death, and Rina can’t help but be drawn into the mystery.

That cringey phrase ‘cozy crime’ should be ditched for a start. There was nothing ‘cozy’ about a violent murder of an elderly disabled lady or of the descriptions of domestic abuse. And was it people smuggling? It was actually quite bleak! We are then introduced to a whole delightful cast of warm loveable characters, there is Rina Martin, the retired actress who played a TV detective and Tim the magician/mentalist depending on his audience. There are the two young boys, George and Paul who have never really fitted in at school and in trying to change that suffer the drastic consequences. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of reading Julie Wassmer's debut, and the first book of this series, The Whitstable Pearl Mystery. So I was quite excited to read the second one and catch up with the lovely Pearl. After solving her first case as a private investigator on summer, she has been slowly building her business while still managing her restaurant. A man involved in a long-running feud with another traveller family was jailed for life after murdering a grandfather and attempting to murder his son. Rina thinks that the intruders were after her gun, although it was of new real use to anyone. But who would have wanted the gun ... and willing to kill for it?

Murder-on-Sea

On arrival at the station, officers found Tavener with a significant injury to his hand after he had been hit by a train. Tavener lost several fingers.